As the parties get into their strategic storehouses in search of what they can fish out to weather the storm of coming elections, the All Progressive Congress (APC) has sought to settle intra-party squabbles to put itself in good stead for the upcoming elections. President Muhammadu Buhari has picked the former governor of Lagos, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to reconcile feuding members in the fold.
No one is better suited for such a job than a political strategist, one whose political arithmetic helped put the party in power. Tinubu was certainly ingenious in bringing apparent strange bed fellows together in the run-up to the 2015 elections, held together by Buhari’s goodwill, and made political capital of the union. Shortly after the party got into power, cracks began to show on its wall
It was evident that they were not bound by any political principle, none of the parties were rooted in any political ideology. They came together to get former President Goodluck Jonathan out of the way. They got their bidding but, in no time, it became obvious that their unity was hanging by a thread. The gulf began to widen over time. Sharing the loot of power lit the first light of discord as some parts of the whole began to see that they seemed to have been used to get power and were schemed out of the sharing formula. When Kaduna State Governor, Nasir el-Rufai, wrote to the President to do something about assuaging the agitations of those who felt sidelined by reconstituting boards of parastatals, some people in the Presidency leaked the letter to the public. It gave the impression that el-Rufai was antagonising the President. The truth being that those who leaked the letter wanted to get back at the Kaduna governor for allegedly being too close to the President. It goes to show that Tinubu’s reconciliation may have to start at the Presidency. Those who think they own the presidency to the point of even keeping Tinubu away at the outset of this regime, will have to reconcile with the man at the helm of making peace. It is an obvious case of “physician, heal thy self.” I believe Tinubu has the large heart to sweep them back into the fold.
His major task lies outside the President’s office. Let’s take a casual look of states where intra-party squabbles have since blown open. In Kogi, Governor Yahaya Bello has been at loggerheads with Senator Dino Melaye. It was an open secret that the move to recall Melaye, which reached advanced stage before the senator ran to the courts to save himself, was the alleged mastermind of Governor Bello. I do not know the crux of the matter, but Tinubu would soon get to know and resolve it to the point of having both men work to retain the state for the party. In Kaduna, Governor el-Rufai is in multiple fights but the most prominent is the open battle with Senator Shehu Sani, representing Kaduna Central zone. At every turn, Sani does not pretend to be happy with el-Rufai. I understand he has an eye on the seat of Governor and feels that the party imposed el-Rufai on the state. The governor allegedly moved to sack him from the party by instigating a suspension from his ward. Both men have a no-retreat-no-surrender attitude to the fight. All those are knotty issues Tinubu would have to untie. In Rivers, the saying that there are no permanent friends or enemies in politics has come to the fore. Senator Magnus Abe was a very close political ally to minister of transport, Rotimi Amaechi. When the latter was governor, Abe was secretary to the government. It would seem interests have differed. Abe wants to be governor but it appears Amaechi has thrown his weight behind Dakuku Peterside. The senator had a political event the same day Amaechi had one in the state. Abe invited Governor Nyesom Wike, another Amaechi ally-turned-foe, a clear indication that the senator is tending to part ways with the minister. Abe said, at the event, that he owed nobody any apology for inviting the governor. Wike was quick to show up at Abe’s rally, knowing what mileage he would garner against Amaechi in that event. And Abe knew the event would rattle Amaechi. Tinubu needs to move fast and redirect Abe’s steps, evidently heading in the direction of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party in Rivers. The state, which is a cash cow of sorts, is in the firm grip of the opposition party. It is an asset to the opposition party and Wike knows what to do with such an asset. Tinubu has to do what it takes to bring Abe back to the political family.
In Kano, things have fallen apart between Sen. Rabiu Kwakwaso and Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje. The former handed over to the latter but they now seem to walk in parallel political lines. The governor wants to take over the political structure in the state but the senator, representing Kano Central, wants to show that he is still the political live wire of the state. I do not know how Tinubu would handle this one. He is the master and political Iroko of Lagos and parts of South West. How would he tell Kwankwaso to slide into oblivion in a state where he had been entrenched and played a major role in moving the state into the APC? Tinubu is a strategist and his skills will serve him well in this assignment. Another tough arena would be Imo State, where Governor Rochas Okorocha has now made it public that his son-in-law is his chosen successor. He has also made it public that he would block Sen. Ifeanyi Ararume from succeeding him. Ararume has been in the trenches for long. He has persevered in the battle to be governor. He is one of the political heavyweights that have aligned with Okorocha but they have fallen apart on succession. Ararume is truly hungry for the position and has paid an immense price for the move. It will be another tough one for Tinubu. The former governor of Lagos is said to be a master at the game, having done it way back in the 1990s; when the late MKO Abiola and Babagana Kingibe tied at the primary of defunct Social Democratic Party (SDP), Tinubu brokered peace and got both men to run with the same ticket. His task is so vital that it holds the key to the party’s success in coming polls.
I hope he has the large heart for this job, given that he has issues with Chief Odigie-Oyegun, APC chairman. The reconciliation must start from them. I wish him well.